MU homecoming activities start Oct. 1

HUNTINGTON -- Marshall University's celebration of 175 years of service continues this fall with a homecoming theme of "Happy 175th Birthday Marshall, Remember the Past, Thunder into the Future."

Homecoming week starts Monday, Oct. 1 and continues through Saturday, Oct. 6, with the homecoming parade in the morning and the football team battling Tulsa at 3:30 p.m.

The full schedule includes:

MONDAY, OCT. 1: Office decorating contest. Offices are asked to decorate using the homecoming theme with prizes to be awarded on Friday, Oct. 5, at the Picnic on the Plaza; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Plazapalooza, Memorial Student Center

FRIDAY, OCT. 5: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., free picnic on the Memorial Student Center Plaza with music, prizes, games and lunch. This is the first official alumni event of homecoming weekend.; noon to 3:30 p.m., family check-in for Parents and Family Weekend, Office of Student Affairs in Memorial Student Center; 3 to 6 p.m., Black Alumni Association registration in the Memorial Student Center lobby; 4 to 6 p.m., deans' reception gives students' families a chance to meet with the deans and leadership from other Marshall offices, third-floor atrium of the Drinko Library; 6 p.m., Marshall women's volleyball game with East Carolina University, Cam Henderson Center. Admission is free to all Parents and Family Weekend visitors; 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., Champagne Welcome Reception hosted by the Alumni Association and the Black Alumni Association at the Marshall University Foundation Hall, Home of the Erickson Alumni Center, cost is $25 per person. For information or to make a reservation, contact Fran Jackson at 304-696-6705 or jacksonf@marshall.edu; 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., Black Alumni Association's Laid Back Friday after party (an evening of music, fun and games) in the Memorial Student Center basement.

SATURDAY, OCT. 6: 9 a.m., 5K Alum Run, entry fee is $20 for early registration and $25 for late registration. To register, contact Michele Muth at pallantel1@marshall.edu; 9:30 a.m., Breakfast with the President, for those attending Parents and Family Weekend, will take place in the Don Morris Room of the Memorial Student Center. Breakfast will begin after a brief greeting and comments by Marshall President Stephen Kopp; 10 a.m., Black Alumni Association business meeting/registration, Marshall University Foundation Hall, Home of the Erickson Alumni Center, conference room; 11:30 a.m.: homecoming parade, starting in downtown Huntington and ending at Joan C. Edwards Stadium; 1 to 3 p.m., Tailgate Blast hosted by the Alumni Association, Black Alumni Association and Parents and Family Weekend at 18th Street and 5th Avenue with a tailgate party. Cost is $25 per person; 3:30 p.m., football game at Joan C. Edwards Stadium; 8 p.m., NPHC Stepshow in the Big Sandy Superstore Arena; 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., A Red Carpet Affair. Black Alumni dance sponsored by Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in the Don Morris Room of the Memorial Student Center. The Epsilon Delta chapter at Marshall will be celebrating 50 years on MU's campus.